Hailey Bieber defends celebrating Halloween as a Christian despite rebuke
Model and newlywed Hailey Bieber defended her personal views on celebrating Halloween in response to a fan who called her a "fake Christian" after she solicited feedback on what costume she should wear this year.
Bieber asked her followers on Instagram for Halloween costume ideas and posted a few photos of her past Halloween costumes to show what she dressed up as in the past.
"Aren't u a Christian?" a fan asked the model during the Q&A.
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"Yes. I still dress up for Halloween," Bieber replied.
Many believers do not participate in Halloween because they view it as a secular celebration of evil and paganism.
The new bride shared another comment she received from a follower who blasted her as being a "FAKE CHRISTIAN."
Bieber respond by adding, "Our kids are gonna celebrate too.”
While 21% of Christians try to avoid celebrating Halloween, according to a 2015 LifeWay Research survey, a majority (59%) believe "it's all in good fun." Meanwhile, 14% said they try to avoid the pagan elements of it.
Catholics (71%) are more likely than Protestants (49%) to say "it’s all in good fun." Evangelicals are more likely to avoid Halloween completely (28%) or its pagan elements (23%).
The model’s husband, Justin Bieber, recently posted a parody video of comedian Kevin A. Frederick rebuking Halloween costumes, something the pop star said he was familiar with because of his upbringing in the church.
Fredericks is a popular entertainer, known in Christian circles for his comedy as "Kev on Stage." In 2016, he released a video of himself walking through a party store, speaking in tongues and pointing at Halloween costumes as he cast demons out of the haunted decorations.
“This will only make sense if you grew up in church,” Justin wrote on Instagram to his 100 million fans as he shared the video.
The clip showed Fredericks “canceling the assignment” of Satan in Jesus' name.
The “Sorry” singer found the video amusing and said it’s because of his Christian background.
“This is funny to me because I grew up in church,” Bieber noted.
“Remember there are actually people like this haha this is a good parody."
Many of Bieber's followers found the clip equally hilarious and even shared the restrictions they had as Christians in celebrating Halloween or things considered evil to a faith-based audience.
Some of his followers said they weren’t able to watch or read Harry Potter material, others revealed they were not allowed to trick or treat or dress up for the holiday. Others said they enjoyed staying home from school or said they themselves have walked through party stores in the same way Fredericks did.
